
20
ROOK OF GENESIS.
hermit, shutting himself entirely from the world •, for he had a
work to do for God in the world. In the family and in his
intercourse with men, as a husband and father, a friend, a citi-
zen, he was the steadfast, unwavering servant of the Lord.
"His heart was in harmony with God's will; for 'can two
walk together, except they be agreed ?' And this holy walk was
continued for three hundred years. There are few Christians
who would not be far more earnest and devoted if they knew
that they had but a short time to live, or that the coming of
Christ was about to take place. But Enoch's faith waxed
the stronger, his love became more ardent, with the lapse of
centuries.
"Enoch was a man of strong and highly cultivated mind,
and extensive knowledge ; he was honored with special revela-
tions from God ; yet being
in
constant communion with Heaven,
with a sense of the divine greatness and perfection ever before
him, he was one of the humblest of men. The closer the con-
nection with God, the deeper was the sense of his own weak-
ness and imperfection."—Patriarchs
and Prophets, ft. 85.
2.
"They [the antediluvians] possessed great physical and
mental strength, and their advantages for acquiring both
religious and scientific knowledge were unrivaled. It is a mis-
take to suppose that because they lived to a great age their
mind.-; matured late ; their mental powers were early developed,
and those who cherished the fear of God and lived in harmony
with His will, continued to increase in knowledge and wisdom
throughout their life. Could illustrious scholars of our time be
placed in contrast with men of the same age who lived before
the flood, they would appear as greatly inferior in mental as in
physical strength."
"Adam had learned from the Creator the history of creation ;
he himself witnessed the events of nine centuries; and he im-
parted his knowledge to his descendants. The antediluvians
were without books, they had no written records; but with
their great physical and mental vigor, they had strong memories,
able to grasp and to retain that which was communicated to
them, and in turn to transmit it unimpaired to their posterity.
And for hundreds of years there were nine generations living
upon the earth contemporaneously, having the opportunity of
consulting together and profiting each by the knowledge and
experience of all.
"—Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 82,83.
Note
that Adam lived with Methuselah, Noah's grandfather, 243
years; with Lamech, Noah's father, 56 years; with Enoch, 308
years; and that Methuselah lived until the year of the flood.
Thus the antediluvians not only had the indisputable evidence
of the garden, with its cherubim-guarded gates, but the personal
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